Managing Your Culture

Your culture, which can be summarized as “how things are done around here,” is made of the values, beliefs, assumptions and habits shared by your employees. It is these good and bad habits that determine how your employees lead, make decisions, solve problems, communicate and react to change.

If you do not manage your culture, it will manage you. A culture assessment helps you identify the great habits and behaviors your company should celebrate and encourage, as well as the habits that prevent your company from achieving greater success. This is particularly important if you have had changes in leadership and want to reshape the culture.

Change and growth can happen from many elements such as new technologies, new direction in products/services, changes in leadership or mergers and acquisitions. Through these changes, the “way things are done around here,” will need to change to keep up with these developments. When companies do not adapt to change and growth, they often stagnate and never quite reach their prime. If, however, you decide that you want your company to grow out of this awkward “adolescent” stage, you can reshape your culture and create new agile, innovative behaviors.

Whether your company is experiencing constant change or in a stable situation, employees want to know where your company is going and how they can specifically help it get there. More than reviewing progress toward goals, employee accountability is about creating a path where each employee continues to grow as the company grows. Promoting from within, when done correctly, not only saves the company money and helps preserve the culture, it also makes the organization more desirable for future employees.